Category: Covid-19

The two year anniversary of the COVID-19 pandemic have brought up feelings of anxiety, exhaustion and loss for therapist Griselda Coreas Landor's clients. She said this is completely normal.

"When you sit back and look at the pandemic, that was very traumatic for everyone, and people aren't aware of the signs of what it means to experience trauma," Coreas Landor said.

Oftentimes it shows up in clients as a lack of energy, said the Frisco therapist, "when there's something really interfering and inhibiting" people's ability to get things done.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) noted in multiple reports over the past two years that the COVID-19 pandemic caused increases in substance use and worse mental health outcomes.

"It's such a common, reoccurring theme to hear, 'I just wish things were back to normal. When are things gonna go back to normal?,'" Coreas Landor said of her clients. "The reality is that things are not going to go back to normal. It's a new norm, it's a new adjustment. We as humans do not do well with life adjustments."

She works with clients to practice "radical acceptance," which is a therapeutic technique to challenge negative beliefs and recognize the reality of situations without judgement.

"What is in your power? What is in your control?," Coreas Landor said. "Because you can't control what's happening out there. But what you can control and focus on is your life, to make sure that you're providing yourself with whatever it is that you can."

Instructing clients on kindness and compassion helped her recognize how the pandemic had changed her own life.

"I'm a single mom. In the middle of a pandemic, I was trying to build my career, trying to excel and navigate while also being a mother," Coreas Landor said. "Taking care of myself wasn't easy. I got my own therapist. I got my own psychiatrist. I think it shined a light on me that I can't just be an advocate for mental health, and supply my own services, without preaching what I say."

She encourages people, especially as they are processing difficult emotions and life changes, to recognize what they need to take care of themselves. That could be getting enough sleep, taking a walk, cooking a meal or practicing mindfulness, like meditation. The pandemic brought to light a lot of mental health issues, but Coreas Landor said this can be an opportunity for growth.

"Everyone has a right to be heard, to process, to go through whatever it is that they experience," Coreas Landor said. "There's no better time to say, this is what I want for me and now's the time."

Got a tip? Email Elena Rivera aterivera@kera.org. You can follow Elena on Twitter@elenaiswriting.

KERA News is made possible through the generosity of our members. If you find this reporting valuable, considermaking a tax-deductible gift today.Thank you.

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Two years after COVID-19 arrived in North Texas, here's how to process the change and loss - KERA News

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Note: Case counts in Idaho, Maine and Washington may be affected by ongoing data anomalies; Cartogram: Kavya Beheraj/Axios

Two years ago today, three Iowans tested positive for COVID-19 the first-known cases in our state.

Flashback: Here's a timeline of how things were back in March 2020:

Fast forward: We've been through the wringer, to say the least. From quarantining, multiple variants, and life-saving vaccinations, a lot has changed these past 24 months.

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Looking back 2 years after COVID-19 was first detected in Iowa - Axios

In a recent study posted to the bioRxiv* preprint server, researchers studied how messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA)-based BNT162b2 coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine altered the biochemical composition of glial and glioma brain cellsin vitro.

Raman spectroscopy imaging enables the examination of the biochemical composition of cell organelles non-invasively, valuable in monitoring molecular interactions in the tumor microenvironment and unraveling mechanisms governing immune response to pathogenic infections.

COVID-19 mRNA vaccine mimics COVID-19 infection, but instead of the whole virus, synthesize only severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) spike (S) protein for the immune response, without causing COVID-19 infection.

The harmful effects of mRNA vaccine-produced high levels of S protein are not yet completely understood. Researchers have cautioned that they induce complex reprogramming of innate immune responses; moreover, the vaccine-produced S protein remains near the vaccination site and even circulates in the bloodstream to directly affect the host cells with long-term consequences. Therefore, it is crucial to monitor the biodistribution and location of S protein from mRNA vaccines.

Studies have recovered COVID-19 mRNA from the cerebrospinal fluid of vaccinees, suggesting it can cross the blood-brain barrier (BBB). In addition, even without crossing the BBB, several cytokines induced by COVID-19 infection cross the BBB to affect central nervous system (CNS) function.

In this way, COVID-19 mRNA reaches the brain, infects astrocytes, and triggers neuropathological changes that contribute to the structural and functional alterations in the brain of COVID-19 patients. The researchers have also raised concerns that the lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) can diffuse quickly to the CNS through the olfactory bulb or blood. However, these phenomenons, including the role of innate memory responses to LNPs, need to be further explored in future research.

In the current study, researchers used Raman spectroscopy to examine several CNS-related symptoms, including loss of taste and smell, twitching, confusion, headaches, impaired consciousness and vision, nerve pain, dizziness, nausea and vomiting, seizures, hemiplegia, stroke, ataxia, and cerebral hemorrhage in human brain glial and glioma cellsin vitro. More specifically, they studied normal and tumor brain cells, including normal human astrocytes (NHA), human astrocytoma CCF-STTG1, and human glioblastoma cell line U87-MG.

To this end, they injected the BNT162b2 vaccine and incubated these cellsin vitro.Next, they monitored the effect of the vaccine on the biodistribution of different chemical components, particularly alterations in reduction-oxidation (redox) pathways related to cytochrome (cyt) c in cell organelles, including the nucleus, mitochondria, lipid droplets, cytoplasm, and membrane.

Raman imaging helped analyze the vibrational spectra of a sample area (here brain cells), including biodistribution of different biomolecules. Using two-dimensional (2D) spectroscopic data obtained by Raman imaging and cluster analysis algorithm, the researchers created Raman maps to visualize cellular substructures to learn about their composition.

The distinctive coding colors in the K-means cluster analysis represented seven clusters: the blue color represented lipids, including rough endoplasmic reticulum (RER) and lipid droplets filled with retinoids; likewise, orange, magenta, red, green, light grey, and dark grey colors represented lipid droplets filled with triacylglycerols of monounsaturated type (TAG), mitochondria, nucleus, cytoplasm, membrane, and the cell environment, respectively.

They recorded Raman spectra using a confocal Raman microscope that recorded images with a spatial resolution of 1 1m. It was calibrated daily before taking the measurements, using a silica plate with a maximum peak at 520.7 cm-1.

Among several study findings, a key one was that the human cellsin vitrodemonstrated a redox imbalance by downregulation of cyt c, similar to that observed in cancers. They noted that the Raman signal of oxidized cyt c was strongest for astrocytoma control cells and the weakest for the U-87 MG cells, indicating decreased oxidative phosphorylation and apoptosis.

The band intensity (at 1654 cm-1), corresponding to amide I, decreased for glioblastoma U87-MG upon incubation with mRNA, most likely due to deterioration of the adenine nucleotide translocator (ANT), representing about 10% of proteins in mitochondria.

The BNT162b2 vaccine reprogrammed innate immune responses by downregulation of cyt c. Cyt c creates a damage-associated molecular pattern (DAMP) that alarms the immune system of any potential danger in all cell types to help them mount an appropriate immune defense via activation of pattern recognition receptors (PRRs).

At 1584 cm-1, the Raman intensity of the reduced form of cyt c drastically increased upon incubation of U87 MG cells with retinoic acid (RA), indicating that RA is an essential innate immune system molecule with the capability to halt cytokine induction.

It is common knowledge that the mRNA vaccine never enters the cell nucleus, where the deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) resides, to alter the human genome because - i) they do not have a reverse transcriptase; ii) they cannot travel from cytoplasm to the nucleus; iii) mRNAs are short-lived molecules.

The authors observed no statistically significant changes in cytochrome c activity for NHA and U87-MG at 60 L/mL dose. In contrast, they observed changes for astrocytoma at the 60 L/mL dose during incubation time of 96 hours and U87-MG glioblastoma cells at a low dose of one L/mL for 24 hours.

Since the mRNA vaccine does not introduce changes corresponding to DNA, these results indicated post-translational changes in histones of the nucleus upon incubation with the mRNA vaccine, not in DNA.

Furthermore, they noted a decreased cyt c signal at 1584 cm-1 for all types of glial cells and all periods of incubation and dosages, suggesting statistically significant changes in cyt c biochemical concentration in lipid droplets and lipid structures of RER.

The study highlighted how Raman imagingpresented exciting new possibilities to understand the associations between pathways of cancer and the immune system and recognize metabolites regulating these pathways.

Taken together, the study findings demonstrated that the mRNA-based BNT162b2 COVID-19 vaccine altered mitochondria by downregulation of cyt c resulting in lowered oxidative phosphorylation and adenosine triphosphate (ATP) production. This led to the lowering of the immune response.

A decrease of amide I concentration in mitochondrial membrane potential suggested functional deterioration of the ANT. Likewise, the BNT162b2 vaccine significantly modifiedde novolipids synthesis in lipid droplets; however, the role of signaling function of lipid droplets increased.

bioRxiv publishes preliminary scientific reports that are not peer-reviewed and, therefore, should not be regarded as conclusive, guide clinical practice/health-related behavior, or treated as established information.

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Effect of COVID-19 mRNA vaccine on in vitro glial cells of the brain studied by Raman spectroscopy and imaging - News-Medical.Net

Video: Study sheds more light on effectiveness of at-home COVID-19 testsAll U.S. households are now eligible to order four additional free COVID-19 tests from COVIDtests.gov. When the government site launched in January, it received more than 45 million orders. Now officials say fewer than 100,000 orders a day are coming in for the packages of four free rapid tests per household, delivered by the U.S. Postal Service.Experts say testing will become more important with mask requirements now easing."If infection control is still our priority, testing is central," said Dr. Leana Wen, a former Baltimore health commissioner and commentator on the pandemic. "Four tests per household for one family will only last you one time. There should be enough tests for families to test twice a week."The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Video: Study sheds more light on effectiveness of at-home COVID-19 tests

All U.S. households are now eligible to order four additional free COVID-19 tests from COVIDtests.gov.

When the government site launched in January, it received more than 45 million orders. Now officials say fewer than 100,000 orders a day are coming in for the packages of four free rapid tests per household, delivered by the U.S. Postal Service.

Experts say testing will become more important with mask requirements now easing.

"If infection control is still our priority, testing is central," said Dr. Leana Wen, a former Baltimore health commissioner and commentator on the pandemic. "Four tests per household for one family will only last you one time. There should be enough tests for families to test twice a week."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Every household is eligible for additional free COVID-19 tests from the government - KCRA Sacramento

So how effective are COVID-19 vaccinations for children age 5 to 11?

There are emerging data suggesting that protection against infection wanes for vaccinated children in this age group. But that shouldnt be a surprise, some experts say, as vaccination series without a booster shot generally have been less effective in protecting against infection from the Omicron variant of the coronavirus than earlier strains, and children in this age group arent eligible for a booster.

The good news is that recent data a study from the New York State Department of Health that hasnt been peer reviewed, and a report published by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention underscore that COVID-19 vaccinations for children are protective against severe illness and hospitalization.

The main finding is that the vaccines are highly protective versus Omicron hospitalizations for children ages 5-11. That and their remarkable safety is why they should be widely adopted by parents to keep their kids and families [and] contacts protected from severe disease, Dr. Eric Topol, director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute in La Jolla, wrote in an email. We knew vaccines arent working well against Omicron infections, and both reports reinforced that finding.

Dr. Yvonne Maldonado, chief of infectious diseases at Stanford University School of Medicines pediatrics department, said that whats far more important in determining a vaccines helpfulness is its effectiveness against severe illness and hospitalization not in avoiding runny noses caused by COVID-19.

It would be nice to stop every runny nose. But thats not globally important right now. What we need to stop are people from getting hospitalized, getting put on ventilators and dying. And we need to stop clogging up our hospitals, so that people dont come in and die of heart attacks or strokes because they cant get a bed, said Maldonado, who has helped conduct clinical trials of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine in children at Stanford.

Even though children are less likely to get hospitalized than adults, COVID-19 is still causing a level of deaths high enough that the pandemic is considered one of the leading causes of death in children. More than 1,500 children up to age 17 have died of COVID-19 nationwide, including 61 in California.

Los Angeles County on Thursday reported its 10th pediatric COVID-19 death in a teenager. This, like all deaths related to COVID-19, is a tragic loss, which will have a profound impact on this childs family and friends, Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said.

Orange County has reported five pediatric COVID-19 deaths; three have occurred since December, including two children who previously were in good health one younger than 5 who was ineligible for vaccination, and a 17-year-old girl who declined the vaccination and died from COVID-related multisystem inflammatory syndrome.

I have seen children on ventilators. I have seen kids who have been incredibly sick from this virus, Maldonado said.

Most hospitalized children are unvaccinated, health officials in Southern California have said. Child COVID-19 deaths are especially tragic because that age group isnt supposed to have high rates of death for any reason.

Yes, three-quarters of all deaths occurred in people over 65 so far. But children arent supposed to die, Maldonado said. Proportionately speaking, COVID deaths are in the top 10 causes of death in kids because theyre not supposed to die. Not in this world, not in the United States, in 2022.

Health experts have been worried about low vaccine uptake in children age 5 to 11. Only a little more than one-quarter of U.S. children are fully vaccinated, while 58% of adolescents age 12 to 17 are. In California, fewer than one-third of children are fully vaccinated, compared with 65% of adolescents.

In L.A. County, areas where vaccination rates are below the countywide average of 29% for the 5-to-11 age group are in lower-income areas such as the northeast San Fernando Valley, the Antelope Valley, South L.A., southeast L.A. County and the Eastside. Areas with higher-than-average vaccination rates include wealthier areas such as Malibu, Hollywood Hills, the southern San Fernando Valley, the Westside and the Palos Verdes Peninsula.

The CDC report showed data that found that vaccine effectiveness against hospitalizations when Delta or Omicron was dominant was 74% for children age 5 to 11. Out of 23 fully vaccinated children in this age group whose records were available, two were hospitalized, while out of 262 unvaccinated children, 59 were hospitalized.

Vaccine effectiveness against hospitalization was initially 92% for those age 12 to 15, and 94% for those 16 and 17, in the roughly five months after the primary vaccination series was completed. After that time, it fell to 73% for those age 12 to 15, and 88% for 16- to 17-year-olds still respectable numbers.

The New York data, analyzing information from Dec. 13 to Jan. 30, said vaccine effectiveness against any kind of infection for those age 5 to 11 dropped from 68% to just 12%, and for those age 12 to 17, fell from 66% to 51%. Still, our data support vaccine protection against severe disease among children 5-11 years, the authors of the New York study wrote.

Overall, both studies show that the vaccines work they dont prevent infections incredibly well, but we never thought that they would prevent all infections. What we were aiming for was preventing hospitalizations and deaths. And they do that, Maldonado said. The studies found that the vaccines are safe, and we know that the vaccines prevented children from being hospitalized during a major surge.

Maldonado said she and other vaccine experts expected there would be waning immunity from the COVID-19 vaccines, and so the future question that needs to be posed is when boosters would be a good idea, and in what circumstance.

Theres a reason we get colds over and over again; theres a reason we get the flu over and over again respiratory viruses are notorious for not providing long-lasting immunity, Maldonado said.

What emerging data do show is that, at least for adults and older kids, some months after the primary vaccination series, youre going to need a booster while theres an active ongoing transmission.

Now, are we going to need a booster if Omicron drops off and we dont see lots of virus circulating? We may be able to hold off for a bit on another booster, Maldonado said. But I do think we at some point may need another booster. I just dont know when that is.

Figuring out ideal vaccination schedules for kids is more complicated than for adults because childrens bodies can operate in dramatically different ways.

It may end up that scientists will suggest kids age 5 to 11 will need a booster and will then make adjustments to the primary vaccination series, such as changing the interval between doses or the dosage.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

More here:

Are COVID-19 vaccinations effective for kids age 5 to 11? - Los Angeles Times

X-ray of lung with heart attack

As we enter the third year of the pandemic, it is becoming increasingly clear that Covid-19 infection impacts our health beyond the acute stage of the illness. More than 40% of Covid-19 survivors globally have experienced longer-term symptoms. Now, a new study demonstrates that infection with Covid-19 appears to impact the risk of cardiovascular events up to 12 months post-infection, even in those who werent hospitalized or had mild cases. Risks increased regardless of age, race, sex, obesity, smoking, or other cardiovascular disease risk factors.

The study found the incidence of serious cardiovascular problems was 4.5% higher in the 12 months after people were diagnosed with Covid-19 compared to those who were not infected. This percentage may seem small until you consider that the CDC recently estimated that over 140 million people in the US have been infected with Covid-19, meaning approximately 6.3 million could be facing cardiovascular problems. Our ongoing case counts could create generations of patients with heart problems.

The study published in Nature used data from US Department of Veterans Affairs national health care databases to follow over 153,000 veterans with a history of Covid-19 infection for up to a year after their recovery. The researchers also used a contemporary and a historical control group to estimate risks and 1-year burdens of a set of pre-specified cardiovascular incident outcomes. The contemporary control group compromised of 5,637,647 patients with no evidence of SARS-CoV-2 infection who used VHA services in 2019. The historical control group compromised of 5,859,411 pre-pandemic patients who used VHA services in 2017.

The study population was largely made up of older white male patients. The Covid-19 cohort, which averaged 61 years old, included 89 percent males and about 71 percent white individuals. However because the study population was large, it also included almost 17,000 female patients; approximately 37,000 Black patients; and almost 8,000 Latino, Asian, American Indian, Native Hawaiian, and patients of other races with Covid-19.

The researchers found that in the year after recovering from the illnesss acute phase, patients had starkly increased risks of different cardiovascular problems, including abnormal heart rhythms, heart muscle inflammation, blood clots, strokes, myocardial infarction, and heart failure.

At the 12-month mark, for every 1000 people compared to the contemporary control group, Covid-19 infection was associated with:

Risks and burdens were assessed at 12 months in mutually exclusive groups comprising ... [+] non-hospitalized individuals with COVID-19 (green), individuals hospitalized for COVID-19 (orange) and individuals admitted to intensive care for COVID-19 during the acute phase (first 30 d) of COVID-19 (blue). Outcomes were ascertained 30 d after the COVID-19-positive test until the end of follow-up. The contemporary control cohort served as the referent category. Within the COVID-19 cohort, non-hospitalized (n=131,612), hospitalized (n=16,760), admitted to intensive care (n=5,388) and contemporary control cohort (n=5,637,647). Adjusted HRs and 95% CIs are presented. The length of the bar represents the excess burden per 1,000 persons at 12 months, and related 95% CIs were also presented.

While hospitalization did increase the likelihood of future cardiovascular complications, people who avoided hospitalization were still at higher risk for many conditions. Other subgroup analyses found increased risks regardless of age, race, sex, obesity, smoking, hypertension, diabetes, chronic kidney disease, hyperlipidemia, and preexisting cardiovascular disease.

The study was well designed, not only using extensive control cohorts but also accounting for external factors. Because some Covid-19 vaccines may be associated with very rare cases of myocarditis and pericarditis, the researchers conducted analyses to remove the effect of vaccination. The increased risk of myocarditis and pericarditis remained among people who were not vaccinated and was clear regardless of vaccination status.

Based on the results of this study, I recommend that everyone who has been infected with Covid-19, mild or otherwise get a cardiovascular workup within 12 months of infection. I urge anyone who has unexplained cardiovascular symptoms after a Covid-19 infection to take them seriously and seek medical care immediately. Physicians should also be adjusting their screening questions to include past infection with Covid-19 and assess for all Long Covid symptoms including cardiovascular. Early identification, diagnosis, and treatment of heart disease are essential to lessen the risk of adverse health impacts.

The cardiovascular disease risk associated with Covid-19 infection further highlights how we need a coordinated global response strategy to urgently address the challenges of dealing with the long-term health effects of Covid-19.

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Covid-19 Infection Increases Heart Disease Risk, Even In Mild Cases - Forbes

For Immediate Release:

March 4, 2022

Mayor Lumumba lifts mask mandate, other COVID-19 restrictions

(Jackson, Miss.) Today, Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba made significant changes to his Safe Recovery executive order which put restrictions on the public due to the spread of the COVID-19 virus. The Mayor made the decision after discussions with his COVID-19 Task Force.

The new order includes the the lifting of the citywide facial covering (mask) mandate. All restrictions previously implemented through any (order) related to face coverings are hereby lifted in their entirety, the order reads. The order follows a similar one issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last week that also lifted mask wearing requirements.

The mayors new order also lifts all restrictions related to capacity and hours of Jackson businesses.

I have imposed restrictions and limitations on certain businesses with public health in mind, and also understand that such restrictions and limitations complicate the economic picture for many business ownersthis executive order seeks to provide a further economic lifeline to businesses by lifting some restrictions of business services, said Mayor Lumumba.

An ordinance allowing businesses to establish a temporary leisure and recreation district remains in place. Businesses in Jackson with alcohol permits may offer alcoholic beverages through carry out, drive-thru and curbside pickup.

Restaurants, bars and retail establishments affected by COVID-19 restrictions may contact the Citys Constituent Services Office at 601-960-2324 to request a temporary permit to create or expand an outdoor area for customers to consume food/alcohol and to expand business operations to public parking lots, sidewalks and streets closed to public access, and other areas within proximity of the business.

The new order is effective Friday, March 4, and supersedes any contrary provision.

See attached foradditional information:

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Mayor Lumumba Lifts Mask Mandate, Other COVID-19 Restrictions - Jackson, MS - City of Jackson, MS (.gov)

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Covid-19 Freedom Protest Blocks DC Area Traffic, #TruckersConvoy2022 Contrasts This With Ukraine Crisis - Forbes

GURNEE, Ill.Inside a factory that is the size of five football fields, thousands of workers from Abbott Laboratories race to meet demand for Americas dominant Covid-19 at-home test.

Some place test strips inside white, rectangular cards of paper that feature a pink stripe, before sealing them into a pouch. In other rooms, workers pack pouches, swabs and solution into bluish-purple boxes labeled BinaxNow. Trucks roll in to pick up new supplies between 3 a.m. and midnight, every day.

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How the Covid-19 Test Was Won - The Wall Street Journal

The Daily Item

Health officials reported 1,158 new cases statewide. It was the seventh straight day with 1,252 or fewer, the first time that has happened since late July.

There were fewer than 10 new COVID-19 infections in the four Valley counties reported on Saturday, the third time that has happened since Feb. 27.

There were eight new infections in Union County, five each in Snyder and Northumberland counties and two in Montour, according to data reported by the state Department of Health (DOH).

The state reported no new COVID-19 fatalities on Saturday. The number of new deaths from the virus have declined every day in March after the state reported 116 on March 1.

According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Johns Hopkins University, across the nation, new cases were down 28 percent over the past week, hospitalizations were down 12 percent and deaths linked to COVID-19 were down 12 percent. In Pennsylvania, the number of new COVID cases is down 39 percent over the last week, deaths were down 18 percent and hospitalizations were down 16 percent.

At Bucknell University, there have been 19 positive cases this week, down from 80 recorded last week. There were 40 students in isolation.

Among school-age children in the Valley, there have been at least 11 new cases this week. The DOH reported eight new cases in Union County among students ages 5-18 in the seven-day window that ended March 1. There were fewer than five positive cases in Montour, Northumberland and Snyder counties. The state does not release exact numbers if fewer than five cases are registered to protect the patients identities.

According to the new CDC guidance, all four Valley counties were seeing high community levels of COVID-19. Across Pennsylvania, 43 counties had low rates up 27 from last week 16 had medium and eight had high. The COVID-19 community level is determined by the higher of the new admissions and inpatient beds metrics, based on the current level of new cases per 100,000 population in the past 7 days.

Across Pennsylvania, 76.7 percent of adults 18 and older are fully vaccinated according to the CDC and 67.1 percent of all residents are fully vaccinated, according to CDC reporting on Saturday.

As of noon Saturday, there were 1,089 hospitalizations statewide, down 67 from Friday and 6,427 since Jan. 15. The number of COVID hospitalizations statewide has dropped for 28 consecutive days and was at its lowest point since Aug. 16, 2021.

Statewide, there were 199 in intensive care units (ICUs), down 25, and 122 were breathing using ventilators, down six.

There were 62 patients hospitalized locally on Saturday, three more than reported Friday, all at Evangelical Community Hospital. There were 48 patients at Geisinger in Danville, two at Geisinger-Shamokin and 12 at Evangelical Community Hospital in Lewisburg.

Geisingers main campus in Danville had 11 patients in the ICU and seven on a ventilator, even with Fridays report. There were two COVID patients in the ICU in Shamokin, also the same as reported Friday.

At Evangelical, three patients were being treated in the ICU and the one was on a ventilator, also the same as Friday.

There were six inmate cases at the medium-security unit in Allenwood on Saturday, the only cases at the three facilities in Allenwood, the same numbers as reported Friday. According to the Bureau of Prisons, there were also 16 staff cases at USP-Lewisburg, an increase of one case since Fridays report.

As of Saturday, there were no active cases among those receiving services and fewer than five staff cases at the Selinsgrove Center, At Danville State Hospital, there were no active infections among those receiving services and fewer than five cases among staff members, according to the state Department of Human Services. At the North Central Secure Treatment Unit, there were fewer than five cases among youth and fewer than five among staff. The DHS does not report numbers fewer than five to avoid identifying individuals.

There were two inmate cases and no staff cases at the State Correctional Institution in Coal Township, according to the state Department of Corrections (DOC). Statewide, there were 73 inmate cases, down 17, and another 63 staff cases, down two.

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UPDATE State records 1,158 new COVID-19 infections, fewer than 10 in each Valley county - Sunbury Daily Item